Semiconductor device including transistors with silicided impurity regions

ABSTRACT

A TFT formed on an insulating substrate source, drain and channel regions, a gate insulating film formed on at least the channel region and a gate electrode formed on the gate insulating film. Between the channel region and the drain region, a region having a higher resistivity is provided in order to reduce an Ioff current. A method for forming this structure comprises the steps of anodizing the gate electrode to form a porous anodic oxide film on the side of the gate electrode; removing a portion of the gate insulating using the porous anodic oxide film as a mask so that the gate insulating film extends beyond the gate electrode but does not completely cover the source and drain regions. Thereafter, an ion doping of one conductivity element is performed. The high resistivity region is defined under the gate insulating film.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a semiconductor device and amanufacturing method thereof, in particular, the present invention isdirected to an insulated gate field effect transistor of a thin filmtype formed on an insulating surface which may be a surface of aninsulating substrate such as glass or an insulating film such as siliconoxide formed on a silicon wafer. Specifically, the present invention isapplicable to a manufacture of a TFT (thin film transistor) formed on aglass substrate of which glass transition temperature (which is alsocalled distortion point or distortion temperature) is 750° C. or lower.

The semiconductor device manufactured in accordance with the presentinvention is applicable to a driving circuit for an active matrix devicesuch as a liquid crystal display or an image sensor, or a threedimensional integrated circuit.

TFTs have been well known to drive an active matrix type liquid crystaldevice or an image sensor. specifically, instead of amorphous TFTshaving an amorphous silicon as an active layer thereof, crystalline SiTFTs have been developed in order to obtain a higher field mobility.FIGS. 6A-6F are cross sections showing a manufacturing method of a TFTin accordance with a prior art.

Referring to FIG. 6A, a base film 602 and an active layer 603 ofcrystalline silicon are formed on a substrate 601. An insulating film604 is formed on the active layer using silicon oxide or, the like.

Then, a gate electrode 605 is formed from phosphorous doped polysilicon,tantalum, titanium, aluminum, etc. With this gate electrode used as amask, an impurity element (e.g. phosphorous or boron) is doped into theactive layer 603 through an appropriate method such as ion-doping in aself-aligning manner, thereby, forming impurity regions 606 and 607containing the impurity at a relatively lower concentration andtherefore having a relatively high resistivity. These regions 606 and607 are called a high resistivity region (HRD: High Resistivity Drain)by the present inventors hereinafter. The region of the active layerbelow the gate electrode which is not doped with the impurity will be achannel region. After that, the doped impurity is activated using laseror a heat source such as a flush lamp. (FIG. 6B)

Referring to FIG. 6C, an insulating film 608 of silicon oxide is formedthrough a plasma CVD or APCVD (atmospheric pressure CVD), followingwhich an anisotropic etching is performed to leave an insulatingmaterial 609 adjacent to the side surfaces of the gate electrode asshown in FIG. 6D.

Then, using the gate electrode 605 and the insulating material 609 as amask, an impurity element is again added into a portion of the activelayer 603 by an ion doping method or the like in a self-aligning manner,thereby, forming a pair of impurity regions 610 and 611 containing theimpurity element at a higher concentration and having a lowerresistivity. Then, the impurity element is again activated using laseror flush lamp. (FIG. 6E)

Finally, an inter layer insulator 612 is formed on the whole surface, inwhich contact holes are formed on the source and drain regions 610 and611. Electrode/wirings 613 and 614 are then formed through the contactholes to contact the source and drain regions. (FIG. 6F)

The foregoing process was achieved by copying the old LDD technique fora conventional semiconductor integrate circuit and this method has somedisadvantages for a thin film process on a glass substrate as discussedbelow.

Initially, it is necessary to activate the added impurity element withlaser or flush lamp two times. For this reason, the productivity islowered. In the case of a conventional semiconductor circuit, theactivation of an impurity can be carried out by a heat annealing at onetime after completely finishing the introduction of the impurity.

However, in the case of forming TFTs on a glass substrate, the hightemperature of the heat annealing tends to damage the glass substrate.Therefore, the use of laser annealing or flush lamp annealing isnecessary. However, these annealing is effected on the active layerselectively, that is, the portion of the active layer below theinsulating material 609 is not annealed, for example. Accordingly, theannealing step should be carried out at each time after an impuritydoping is done.

Also, it is difficult to form the insulating material 609. Generally,the insulating film 608 is as thick as 0.5 to 2 μm while the base film602 on the substrate is 1000-3000 Å thick. Accordingly, there is adanger that the base layer 602 is unintentionally etched and thesubstrate is exposed when etching the insulating film 608. As a result,a production yield can not be increased because substrates for TFTscontain a lot of elements harmful for silicon semiconductors.

Further, it is difficult to control the thickness of the insulatingmaterial 609 accurately. The anisotropic etching is performed by aplasma dry etching, such as a reactive ion etching (RIE). However,because of the use of a substrate having an insulating surface as isdifferent from the use of a silicon substrate in a semiconductorintegrated circuit, the delicate control of the plasma is difficult.Therefore, the formation of the insulating material 609 is difficult.

Since the above HRD should be made as thin as possible, the abovedifficulty in precisely controlling the formation of the insulatingmaterial 609 makes it difficult to mass produce the TFT with a uniformquality. Also, the necessity of performing the ion doping twice makesthe process complicated.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

An object of the present invention is to solve the foregoing problemsand provide a TFT having a high resistivity region (HRD) through asimplified process. Here, the HRD includes not only a region whichcontains an impurity at a relatively low concentration and has arelatively high resistivity, but also includes a region which has arelatively high resistivity because of an addition of an element forpreventing the activation of the dopant impurity even though theconcentration of the dopant impurity is relatively high. Examples ofsuch element are carbon, oxygen and nitrogen.

In accordance with the present invention, a surface of a gate electrodeis oxidized and this oxide layer is used to define the high resistivityregion. The oxide layer is formed, for example, by anodic oxidation. Theuse of the anodic oxidation to form the oxide layer is advantageous ascompared with the anisotropic etching mentioned above because thethickness of the anodic oxide layer can be precisely controlled and canbe formed as thin as 1000 Å or less and as thick as 5000 Å or more withan excellent uniformity.

Further, it is another feature of the present invention that there aretwo kinds of anodic oxide in the above mentioned anodic oxide layer. Oneis called a barrier type anodic oxide and the other is called a poroustype anodic oxide. The porous anodic oxide layer can be formed whenusing an acid electrolyte. A pH of the electrolyte is lower than 2.0,for example, 0.8-1.1 in the case of using an oxalic acid aqueoussolution. Because of the strong acidness, the metal film is dissolvedduring the anodization and the resultant anodic oxide becomes porous.The resistance of such a film is very low so that the thickness of thefilm can be easily increased. On the other hand, the barrier type anodicoxide is formed using a weaker acid or approximately neutralelectrolyte. Since the metal is not dissolved, the resultant anodicoxide becomes dense and highly insulating. An appropriate range of pH ofthe electrolyte for forming the barrier type anodic oxide is higher than2.0, preferably, higher than 3, for example, between 6.8 and 7.1.

While the barrier type anodic oxide can not be etched unless ahydrofluoric acid containing etchant is used, the porous type anodicoxide can be selectively etched with a phosphoric acid etchant, whichcan be used without damaging other materials constructing a TFT, forexample, silicon, silicon oxide. Also, both of the barrier type anodicoxide and the porous type anodic oxide are hardly etched by dry etching.In particular, both types of the anodic oxides have a sufficiently highselection ratio of etching with respect to silicon oxide.

The foregoing features of the present invention facilitate themanufacture of a TFT having a HRD.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIGS. 1A-1F are cross sectional views showing a manufacturing method ofa TFT in accordance with the Example 1 of the invention;

FIGS. 2A-2F are cross sectional views showing a manufacturing method ofa TFT in accordance with the Example 2 of the invention;

FIGS. 3A-3F are cross sectional views showing a manufacturing method ofa TFT in accordance with the Example 3 of the invention;

FIGS. 4A-4D are enlarged views of a part of a TFT in accordance with thepresent invention;

FIGS. 5A and 5B show a circuit substrate for an active matrix devicewhich employs the TFTs in accordance with the present invention;

FIGS. 6A to 6F are cross sectional views showing a manufacturing methodof a TFT in the prior art;

FIGS. 7A-7F are cross sectional views showing a manufacturing method ofa TFT in accordance with the Example 4 of the invention;

FIGS. 8A-8F are cross sectional views showing a manufacturing method ofa TFT in accordance with the Example 5 of the invention;

FIGS. 9A-9F are cross sectional views showing a manufacturing method ofa TFT in accordance with the Example 6 of the invention;

FIGS. 10A-10F are cross sectional views showing a manufacturing methodof a TFT in accordance with the Example 7 of the invention;

FIGS. 11A-11F are cross sectional views showing a manufacturing methodof a TFT in accordance with the Example 8 of the invention;

FIGS. 12A-12F are cross sectional views showing a manufacturing methodof a TFT in accordance with the Example 9 of the invention; and

FIGS. 13A-13D are cross sectional views showing an anodic oxidationprocess in accordance with the present invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Referring to FIG. 1A, provided on a substrate 101 is a base insulatingfilm 102. An active layer 103 comprising a crystalline siliconsemiconductor is formed on the base insulating film 102. In thisinvention, “crystalline semiconductor” includes single crystalline,polycrystalline or semiamorphous semiconductor, in which crystalcomponents are contained at least partly Further, an insulating film 104comprising silicon oxide or the like is formed, covering the activelayer 103.

Further, on the insulating film 104, a film comprising an anodizablematerial is formed. Examples of the anodizable material is aluminum,tantalum, titanium, silicon, etc. These materials can be used singly orin a multilayer form using two or more of them. For example, it ispossible to use a double layer structure in which titanium silicide isformed on aluminum, or aluminum is formed on a titanium nitride. Thethickness of each layer may be determined in accordance with a requireddevice property. Subsequently, the film is patterned or etched to form agate electrode 105.

Then, referring to FIG. 1B, the gate electrode 105 is anodized bysupplying an electric current thereto in an electrolyte to form a porousanodic oxide 106 on the upper and side surfaces of the gate electrode.As the electrolyte for this anodic oxidation, an acid aqueous solutioncontaining citric acid, oxalic acid, phosphoric acid, chromic acid, orsulfuric acid at 3-20% is used. The applied voltage is 10-30 V and thethickness is 0.5 μm or more. Because of the use of an acid solution, themetal such as aluminum is dissolved during anodization and the resultedanodic oxidation film becomes porous. Also, because of the porousstructure, the resistance of the oxide film is very low so that thethickness thereof can be increased with a relatively low voltage. Thesame applies to the use of an alkaline solution when the metal isamphoteric.

Referring to FIG. 1D, the insulating film 104 is etched by dry etchingor wet etching with the anodic oxide film 106 used as a mask. Theetching may be continued until the surface of the active layer isexposed or may be stopped before the surface of the active layer isexposed. However, it is preferable to continue the etching until thesurface of the active layer is exposed in view of a productivity,production yield, and uniformity. The portion of the insulating film 104under the gate electrode 105 and the anodic oxide film 106 remains as agate insulating film 104′. When using aluminum, tantalum or titanium asa main component of the gate electrode while the gate insulating film104 comprises silicon oxide, it is possible to use a fluorine containingetchant such as NF₃ and SF₆ for a dry etching. In this case, theinsulating film 104 is etched quickly while the etching rate of aluminumoxide, tantalum oxide and titanium oxide is enough small so that theselective etching of the insulating film 104 can be done.

Also, in the case of using a wet etching, it is possible to use ahydrofluoric acid containing etchant such as a 1/100 hydrofluoric acid.In this case, the silicon oxide insulating film 104 can also beselectively etched because the etching rate of the oxide of thealuminum, tantalum, and titanium is enough small.

After etching the insulating film 104, the anodic oxide film 106 isremoved. As an etchant, a solution containing phosphoric acid may beused. For example, a mixed acid of a phosphoric acid, an acetic acid,and a nitric acid is desirable. However, when using aluminum as a gateelectrode, the gate electrode is also etched by the etchant. Inaccordance with the present invention, this problem is solved by theprovision of a barrier type anodic oxide film 107 between the gateelectrode and the anodic oxide 106 as shown in FIG. 1C.

The anodic oxide film 107 can be formed by applying an electric currentto the gate electrode after the formation of the anodic oxide 106 in anethylene glycol solution containing a tartaric acid, boric acid, ornitric acid at 3-10%. The thickness of the anodic oxide 107 may bedecided depending upon the magnitude of the voltage between the gateelectrode and a counter electrode. It should be noted that theelectrolyte used in this anodic oxidation is relatively neutral so thatthe density of the anodic oxide can be increased contrary to the use ofan acid solution. Thus, a barrier type anodic oxide can be formed. Theetching rate of the porous type anodic oxide is 10 times higher thanthat of the barrier type anodic oxide.

Accordingly, the porous anodic oxide 106 can be removed by thephosphoric acid containing etchant without damaging the gate electrode.

Since the gate insulating film 104′ is formed in a self-aligning mannerwith respect to the porous anodic oxide 106, the outer edge of the gateinsulating film 104′ is distant from the outer edge of the barrier typeanodic oxide 107 by the distance “y” as shown in FIG. 1D. One of theadvantages of the use of an anodic oxide is that this distance “y” canbe decided by the thickness of the anodic oxide in a self-aligningmanner.

Referring to FIG. 1E, an N-type or P-type impurity ions are acceleratedinto the active layer 103 to form high impurity concentration regions108 and 111 in the portion on which the gate insulating film 104′ hasbeen removed (or thinned) and to form low impurity concentration regions109 and 110 on which the gate insulating film remains. The concentrationof the impurity ions in the regions 109 and 110 is relatively small thanthat in the regions 108 and 111 because the impurity ions are introducedthrough the gate insulating film 104′ into the regions 109 and 110.Also, the electrical resistance of the impurity regions 108 and 111 islower than that of the impurity regions 109 and 110 because of thehigher concentration of the added impurity. The difference in theconcentration of impurity ions depends upon the thickness of the gateinsulating film 104′. Normally, the concentration in the regions 109 and110 is smaller than that in the regions 108 and 111 by 0.5 to 3 digits.

The portion of the active layer just below the gate electrode is notdoped with the impurity and can be maintained intrinsic or substantiallyintrinsic. Thus, a channel region is defined. After the impurityintroduction, the impurity is activated by irradiating the impurityregions with a laser or a light having a strength equivalent to thelaser light. This step can be finished at one step. As a result, theedge 112 of the gate insulating film 104′ is approximately aligned withthe edge 113 of the high resistance region (HRD) 110 as shown in FIGS.1E and 1F.

As explained above, the high resistivity regions 109 and 110 can bedetermined in a self-aligning manner by the thickness “y” of the anodicoxide film 106 which in turn is decided by the amount of the electriccurrent supplied to the gate electrode during the anodic oxidation step.This is much superior to the use of an insulating material adjacent tothe gate electrode as shown in FIGS. 6A-6F.

Also, the foregoing method is advantageous because the low resistivityregions and the high resistivity regions can be formed with a singleimpurity doping step. Also, in the prior art, there is a problem thatthe HRD is difficult to contact with an electrode in an ohmic contactbecause of its high resistivity and a drain voltage is undesirablylowered because of this resistivity while the HRD has an advantage thatit is possible to avoid the occurrence of hot carriers and to increasethe reliability of the device. The present invention solves theseincomprehensive problems at one time and makes it possible to form theHRD having a width of 0.1 to 1 μm in a self-aligning manner and enablesan ohmic contact between the electrodes and the source and drainregions.

Also, the locational relation of the boundary between the channel regionand the HRD (109 or 110) with respect to the gate electrode can becontrolled by changing the thickness of the barrier type anodic oxide107 as explained below with reference to FIGS. 4A-4D. For example, whenusing an ion doping method (also called as plasma doping) ions areintroduced without being mass separated so that an approach angle of theions is not uniform. Therefore, the ions introduced into the activelayer tend to spread in a lateral direction.

FIG. 4A shows a partial enlarged view of the TFT shown in FIG. 1E. Thereference numeral 401 shows a gate electrode. The reference numeral 402shows a barrier type anodic oxide which corresponds to the barrier typeanodic oxide 107 of FIG. 1E. The reference numeral 404 shows an activelayer. The thickness of the active layer is about 800 Å for example.When the thickness of the anodic oxide 402 is approximately the same asthe thickness of the active layer 404, the edge 405 of the gateelectrode is substantially aligned with the edge 406 of the HRD 407.

When the anodic oxide layer 402 is thicker than the active layer, forexample, 3000 Å, the edge 405 of the gate electrode is offset from theedge 406 of the HRD as shown in FIG. 4B. On the other hand, when theanodic oxide 402 is relatively thin as compared with the active layer,the gate electrode overlaps the HRD as shown in FIG. 4C. The degree ofthis overlapping becomes maximum when there is no anodic oxide aroundthe gate electrode 401 as shown in FIG. 4D.

In general, the offset structure reduces a reverse direction leakcurrent (off current) and increases the ON/OFF ratio. The offsetstructure is suitable for TFTs used for driving pixels of a liquidcrystal device in which the leak current should be avoided as much aspossible. However, there is a tendency that the anodic oxide degradesdue to hot electrons occurring at the edge of the HRD and trapped by theoxide.

When the gate electrode overlaps the HRD, the above disadvantage of thedegradation can be reduced and an ON current is increased. However,there is a disadvantage that a leak current increases. For this reason,the overlapping structure is suitable for TFTs provided in a peripheralcircuit of a monolithic active matrix device. Accordingly, anappropriate configuration may be selected from FIGS. 4A through 4Edepending upon the utilization thereof.

EXAMPLE 1

Referring again to FIGS. 1A-1F, a process of manufacturing a TFT will bediscussed in more detail. A Corning 7059 glass substrate having adimension 300 mm×400 mm or 100 mm×100 mm is used as the substrate 101. Asilicon oxide film having a thickness of 100-300 nm is formed on thesubstrate as the base film 102 through sputtering in an oxygen gas, forexample. However, it is possible to use a plasma CVD using TEOS as astarting material in order to improve the productivity.

A crystalline silicon film 103 in the form of an island is formed bydepositing an amorphous silicon to a thickness of 300-5000 Å,preferably, 500-1000 Å through plasma CVD or LPCVD, then crystallizingit by heating at 550-600° C. for 24 hours in a reducing atmosphere andthen patterning it. Instead of a heat annealing, a laser annealing maybe employed. Further, a silicon oxide film 104 is formed thereon bysputtering to a thickness of 70-150 nm.

Then, an aluminum film containing 1 weight % Si or 0.1-0.3 weight % Sc(scandium) is formed to a thickness of 1000 Å to 3 μm by electron beamevaporation or sputtering. A gate electrode 105 is formed by patterningthe aluminum film as shown in FIG. 1A.

Further, referring to FIG. 1B, the gate electrode 105 is anodic oxidizedby applying a current thereto in an electrolyte to form an anodic oxidefilm 106 having a thickness of 3000-6000 Å, for example 5000 Å. As theelectrolyte, an acid aqueous solution of citric acid, oxalic acid,phosphoric acid, chromic acid, or sulfuric acid at 3-20% is used. Theapplied voltage is 10-30 V while the applied current is kept constant.In this example, an oxalic acid is used. The temperature of theelectrolyte is 30° C. A voltage of 10 V is applied for 20-40 minutes.The thickness of the anodic oxide film is controlled depending upon thetime for the anodic oxidation.

Subsequently, the gate electrode is subjected to a further anodicoxidation in another electrolyte comprising an ethylene glycol solutioncontaining tartaric acid, boric acid or nitric acid at 3-10% to form abarrier type anodic oxide film 107 around the gate electrode. Thetemperature of the electrolyte is kept preferably lower than a roomtemperature, for example, 10° C., in order to improve the quality of theoxide film. The thickness of the anodic oxide film 107 is in proportionto the magnitude of the applied voltage. The applied voltage is selectedfrom a range of 80-150 V. When the applied voltage is 150 V, thethickness becomes 2000 Å. The thickness of the anodic oxide film 107 isdetermined in accordance with a required configuration of the TFT asdiscussed with reference to FIGS. 4A-4D, however, it would be necessaryto raise the voltage to 250 V or higher to obtain an anodic oxide filmhaving a thickness of 3000 Å or more. Since there is a danger that theTFT is damaged by such a large voltage, it is preferable to select thethickness of the anodic oxide 107 as 3000 Å or less.

Referring to FIG. 1D, the silicon oxide film 104 is partly removed bydry etching. This etching may be either in a plasma mode of an isotropicetching or in a reactive ion etching mode of an anisotropic etching.However, the selection ratio of the silicon and the silicon oxide shouldbe sufficiently large so that the active silicon layer should not beetched so much. Also, the anodic oxides 106 and 107 are not etched byCF₄ while the silicon oxide film 104 is selectively etched. Since theportion of the silicon oxide film 104 below the porous anodic oxide 106is not etched, a gate insulating film 104′ remains without being etched.

Then, referring to FIG. 1E, only the porous anodic oxide film 106 isetched by using a mixed acid of phosphoric acid, acetic acid or nitricacid at an etching rate, for example, 600 Å/minute. The gate insulatingfilm 104′ remains.

After removing the porous anodic oxide film 106, an impurity element forgiving the semiconductor layer one conductivity type is added by iondoping method with the gate electrode and the barrier type anodic oxidefilm 107 and the gate insulating film 104′ used as a mask in aself-aligning manner. As a result, high resistivity impurity regions 109and 110 and low resistivity impurity regions (source and drain regions)108 and 111 are formed. In the case of forming p-type regions, diborane(B₂H₆) is used as a dopant gas. The dose amount is 5×10¹⁴ to 5×10¹⁵atoms/cm². The accelerating energy is 10-30 kV. After the introduction,the added impurity is activated by using a KrF excimer laser (wavelength248 nm, pulse width 20 nsec).

When measuring the concentration of the impurity in the active layer bySIMS (secondary ion mass spectrometry), the impurity concentration inthe source and drain regions 108 and 111 is 1×10²⁰ to 2×10²¹ atoms/cm³and the impurity concentration in the high resistivity regions 109 and110 is 1×10¹⁷ to 2×10¹⁸ atoms/cm³. This corresponds to a dose of5×10¹⁴-5×10¹⁵ atoms/cm² in the former case and 2×10¹³ to 5×10¹⁴atoms/cm² in the latter case. This difference is caused by the existenceof the gate insulating film 104′. Generally, the concentration is 0.5-3times higher in the low resistivity impurity regions than in the highresistivity regions.

Then, an interlayer insulating film 114 of silicon oxide is formed onthe entire structure by a CVD at 3000 Å thick, following which contactholes are formed through the insulating film and aluminum electrodesformed therein to contact the source and drain regions as shown in FIG.1F. Finally, a hydrogen annealing is performed to complete the formationof the TFT.

An example of an application of the TFT of the present invention to acircuit substrate for an active matrix device such as a liquid crystaldevice will be explained with reference to FIG. 5A. In FIG. 5A, threeTFTs are formed on a substrate. The TFT 1 and TFT 2 are used as driverTFTs in a peripheral circuit. The barrier type anodic oxide 501 and 502in the TFT 1 and TFT 2 are 200-1000 Å thick, for example, 500 Å.Therefore, the gate electrode overlaps the high resistivity regions. Thedrain of TFT 1 and the source of TFT 2 are connected to each other, thesource of TFT 1 is grounded, and the drain of TFT 2 is connected to apower source. Thus, a CMOS inverter is formed. It should not be limitedto this configuration but any other circuits may be formed.

On the other hand, the TFT 3 is used as a pixel TFT for driving a pixel.The anodic oxide 503 is as thick as 2000 Å so that an offset area isformed. This configuration corresponds to the structure shown in FIG.4B. Accordingly, a leak current is reduced. One of the source and drainof the TFT 3 is connected to a pixel electrode 504 made of indium tinoxide (ITO). In the meantime, the TFTs 1 and 3 are N-channel type TFTswhile the TFT 2 is a p-channel type TFT.

EXAMPLE 2

This example is an improvement of the Example 1, in which source anddrain regions are provided with a silicide layer. Referring to FIG. 2A,the reference numeral 201 shows a Corning 7059 glass substrate, 202: abase film, 203: a silicon island, 204: an insulating film, 205: an Algate electrode (200 nm-1 μm thick), and 206: a porous anodic oxide film(3000 Å-1 μm, e.g. 5000 Å thick). The same process as explained in theExample 1 is used to form these elements and the redundant explanationis omitted.

Referring to FIG. 2B, a barrier type anodic oxide film 207 of 1000-2500Å thick is formed in the same manner as in the Example 1 after theformation of the porous anodic oxide 206. Then, a gate insulating film204′ is formed by etching the insulating film 204 with the porous anodicoxide 206 used as a mask in a self-aligning manner.

Then, the porous anodic oxide 206 is removed by etching using thebarrier type anodic oxide 207 as a mask. Further, ion doping of animpurity element (phosphorous) is carried out using the gate electrode205 and the anodic oxide 207 as a mask in a self-aligning manner so thatlow resistivity impurity regions 208 and 211 and high resistivityimpurity regions 209 and 210 are formed as shown in FIG. 2C. The doseamount is 1 ×10¹⁴-5×10¹⁴ atoms/cm² and the acceleration voltage is 30-90kV.

Referring to FIG. 2D, a metal film 212 such as titanium is formed on theentire surface by sputtering. The thickness of the metal is 50-500 Å.The low resistivity regions 208 and 211 directly contacts the metalfilm. In place of titanium, other metals, for example, nickel,molybdenum, tungsten, platinum or paradium may be used.

Subsequently, a KrF excimer laser (248 nm wavelength, 20 nsec pulsewidth) is irradiated onto the surface in order to activate the addedimpurity and form metal silicide regions 213 and 214 by reacting themetal film and the silicon in the active layer. The energy density ofthe laser beam is 200-400 mJ/cm², preferably, 250-300 mJ/cm². Also, itis desirable to maintain the substrate at 200-500° C. during the laserirradiation in order to avoid a peeling of the titanium film.

It is, of course, possible to use other light sources other than excimerlaser. However, a pulsed laser beam is more preferable than a CW laserbecause an irradiation time is longer and there is a danger that theirradiated film is thermally expanded and peels off in the case of a CWlaser.

As to examples of pulsed laser, there are a laser of an IR light such asNd:YAG laser (Q switch pulse oscillation is preferred), a secondharmonic wave of the Nd:YAG (visible light), and a laser of a UV lightsuch as excimer laser of KrF, XeCl and ArF. When the laser beam isemitted from the upper side of the metal film, it is necessary to selectwavelengths of the laser in order not to be reflected on the metal film.However, there is no problem when the metal film is enough thin. Also,it is possible to emit the laser from the substrate side. In this case,it is necessary to select a laser which can transmit through thesilicon.

Also, instead of the laser annealing, a lump annealing of visible lightor near infrared light may be employed. In such a case, the annealing isperformed in order to heat the surface to 600-1000° C., for example, forseveral minutes at 600° C. or several tens seconds at 1000° C. Anannealing with a near infrared ray (e.g. 1.2 μm ) does not heat theglass substrate so much because the near infrared ray is selectivelyabsorbed by silicon semiconductors. Further, by shortening theirradiation time, it is possible to prevent the glass from being heated.

Thereafter, referring to FIG. 2E, only the titanium film remainingwithout converting into a silicide, for example, on the gate electrodeor gate insulating film, is etched off by using an etchant containinghydrogen peroxide, ammonium and water at 5:2:2. As a result, titaniumsilicide 213 and 214 remain.

Referring to FIG. 2F, an interlayer insulating film 217 is formed on thewhole surface by depositing silicon oxide at 2000 Å-1 μm, for example,3000 Å through CVD. Contact holes are formed through the insulating film217 on the source and drain regions 213 and 214, following whichaluminum electrodes or wirings 218 and 219 having a thickness of 2000Å-1 μm, e.g. 5000 Å are formed therein. The use of the metal silicideprovides a stable interface with the aluminum as compared with the useof silicon semiconductors and provides a good contact with the aluminumelectrode. The contact can be further improved by forming a barriermetal, for example, titanium nitride, between the aluminum electrodes218 and 219 and the metal silicide regions 213 and 214. The sheetresistance of the silicide regions can be made 10-50Ω/square while thatof the HRD 209 and 210 is 10-100 kΩ/square.

By the foregoing process, it is possible to improve the frequencycharacteristic of the TFT and suppress the hot carrier damage even witha higher drain voltage.

In this example, the low resistivity impurity region and the metalsilicide region approximately coincide with each other. In particular,the edge 215 of the gate insulating film 204′ is approximatelycoextensive with the boundary 216 between the high resistivity impurityregion 210 and the low resistivity impurity region 211 and also with theinner edge of the metal silicide region 214. Thus, obviously, theexplanations with reference to FIGS. 4A-4D can be applied to thisexample by replacing the low resistivity region with the metal silicideregion.

An application of this example to an active matrix device is shown inFIG. 5B. In FIG. 5B, three TFTs are formed on a substrate. The TFT 1 andTFT 2 are used as driver TFTs in a peripheral circuit. The barrier typeanodic oxide 505 and 506 in the TFT 1 and TFT 2 are 200-1000 Å thick,for example, 500 Å. Therefore, the gate electrode overlaps the highresistivity regions. The drain of TFT 1 and the source of TFT 2 areconnected to each other, the source of TFT 1 is grounded, and the drainof TFT 2 is connected to a power source. Thus, a CMOS inverter isformed. It should not be limited to this configuration but any othercircuits may be formed.

On the other hand, the TFT 3 is used as a pixel TFT for driving a pixel.The anodic oxide 507 is as thick as 2000 Å so that an offset area isformed. This configuration corresponds to the structure shown in FIG.4B. Accordingly, a leak current is reduced. One of the source and drainof the TFT 3 is connected to a pixel electrode 508 made of indium tinoxide (ITO). In order to control the thickness of the anodic oxide ofeach TFT independently, the gate electrode of each TFT may preferably bemade independent from one another. In the meantime, the TFTs 1 and 3 areN-channel type TFTs while the TFT 2 is a p-channel type TFT.

Also, the formation of the titanium film may be done before the iondoping of the impurity. In this case, it is advantageous that thetitanium film prevents the surface from being charged up during the iondoping. Also, it is possible to carry out an annealing with laser or thelike after the ion doping step but before the titanium forming step.After the titanium forming step, the titanium silicide can be formed bylight irradiation or heat annealing.

EXAMPLE 3

This example is a further variation of Example 2, in which the order ofthe formation of a metal silicide and the ion doping is changed.Referring to FIG. 3A, on the Corning 7059 substrate 301 is formed a baseoxide film 302, island-like crystalline semiconductor (e.g. silicon)region 303, silicon oxide film 304, aluminum gate electrode 305 of 2000Å to 1 μm, and a porous anodic oxide film 306 of 6000 Å on the side ofthe gate electrode. These are formed in the same manner as in theExample 1 as discussed with reference to FIGS. 1A and 1B.

Further, a barrier type anodic oxide film 307 is formed to 1000-2500 Åin the same manner as in the Example 1. Subsequently, the silicon oxidefilm 304 is patterned into a gate insulating film 304′ in aself-aligning manner as shown in FIG. 3B.

Referring to FIG. 3C, the porous anodic oxide 306 is removed in order toexpose a part of the gate insulating film 304′. Subsequently, a metallayer such as titanium film 308 is formed on the entire surface bysputtering to a thickness of 50-500 Å.

Then, a KrF excimer laser is irradiated in order to form titaniumsilicide regions 309 and 310. The energy density of the laser is 200-400mJ/cm², preferably, 250-300 mJ/cm². Also, it is desirable to maintainthe substrate at 200-500° C. in order to prevent the titanium film frompeeling during the laser irradiation. This step may be carried out withlump annealing of a visible light or far infrared light.

Referring to FIG. 3D, only the titanium film remaining, for example, onthe gate electrode or gate insulating film, is etched off by using anetchant containing hydrogen peroxide, ammonium and water at 5:2:2. As aresult, titanium silicide 309 and 310 remain.

Referring to FIG. 3E, an ion doping of phosphorous is then performedusing the gate electrode 305, the anodic oxide 307 and the gateinsulating film 304′ as a mask in order to form low resistivity impurityregions 311 and 314 and high resistivity impurity regions 312 and 313 ata dose of 1-5 ×10¹⁴ atoms/cm² and an acceleration voltage 30-90 kV. Thetitanium silicide regions 309 and 310 approximately coincide with thelow resistivity regions 311 and 314, which in turn are source and drainregions.

Then, again, a KrF excimer laser (248 nm wavelength, 20 nsec pulsewidth) is irradiated in order to activate the added phosphorous. Thismay be carried out using a lump annealing of visible or far infrared rayas said above. Thereafter, the gate insulating film 304′ is etched withthe gate electrode and the anodic oxide 307 used as a mask to form agate insulating film 304″ as shown in FIG. 3F. This is because theimpurity added into the gate insulating film 304′ makes the deviceproperty instable.

In FIG. 3F, an interlayer insulator 315 is formed on the entire surfaceby depositing silicon oxide at 6000 Å thick through CVD. Contact holesare opened through the insulator to form aluminum electrodes 316 and 317on the source and drain regions. Thus, a TFT is completed.

In accordance with the present invention, the number of doping, orannealing steps can be reduced.

Moreover, an impurity such as carbon, oxygen or nitrogen may be added inaddition to the p-type or n-type impurity ions in order to furtherreduce the reverse direction leak current and increase the dielectricstrength. This is particularly advantageous when used for pixel TFTs inan active matrix circuit. In this case, the TFT 3 of FIGS. 5 A and 5Bhas its anodic oxide film made the same thickness as the TFT 1 and TFT2.

EXAMPLE 4

A fourth example of the present invention will be explained withreference to FIGS. 7A-7F. This example is comparative with the Example 1and the same reference numerals show the same elements. Basically, eachstep is almost the same as the former examples so that redundantexplanations will be omitted.

After forming a conductive film on the gate insulating film 104, a maskmaterial such as photoresist, photosensitive polyimide or a polyimide isformed on the entire surface of the conductive film. For example, aphotoresist (OFPR 800/30 cp manufactured by Tokyo Oka) is spin coated.It is desirable to form an anodic oxide film between the conductive filmand the photoresist. (not shown in the figure) Then, these films arepatterned into the gate electrode 105 and a mask 117 as shown in FIG.7A. Then, in the same manner as in the Example 1, the porous anodicoxide film 106 is formed on the surface of the gate electrode 105 exceptfor the portion on which the mask 117 is formed as shown in FIG. 7B.

Then, referring to FIG. 7C, the silicon oxide film 104 is patterned bydry etching in order to expose a part of the silicon film 103 to thusform the gate insulating film 104′. The same etching method as is donein the Example 1 is also employed. Further, the photoresist mask isremoved by conventional photolithography technique either before orafter this etching step.

Referring to FIG. 7D, the barrier type anodic oxide film 107 is formedin the same manner as in the Example 1 to a thickness of 2000 Å. Usingthis barrier type anodic oxide film as a mask, the porous anodic oxideis removed by phosphoric acid etchant as explained before. Accordingly,the structure shown in FIG. 7E is obtained. The subsequent steps areidentical to those explained with reference to FIGS. 1E and 1F.

Because the upper surface of the gate electrode is not oxidized in thefirst anodic oxidation, it is possible to prevent the thickness of thegate electrode from reducing too much during the first anodic oxidation.That is, in the Example 1, since the entire surface of the gateelectrode is subjected to the anodic oxidation, the thickness of thegate electrode is reduced, causing the undesirable increase in thewiring resistance. This example avoids such a problem.

EXAMPLE 5

This example is a combination of the Example 2 and Example 4 and shownin FIGS. 8A-8F. The steps shown in FIGS. 8A-8B are exactly the same asthe steps described with reference to FIGS. 7A-7C of the Example 4.Namely, the porous anodic oxide is formed on only the side surface ofthe gate electrode while the upper portion of the gate electrode iscovered with a mask. Also, the steps occurring after exposing the partof the silicon layer 203 as shown in FIG. 8B, that is, the steps shownin FIGS. 8C-8F, are identical to those explained in the Example 2 withreference to FIGS. 2C-2F.

EXAMPLE 6

This example is also directed to a combination of the Example 3 andExample 5 and shown in FIGS. 9A-9F. Namely, this example is differentfrom the Example 5 only in the order of the formation of the metalsilicide regions and the ion introducing step. Accordingly, the stepsshown in FIGS. 9A-9B are exactly the same as the steps described withreference to FIGS. 7A-7C of the Example 4, which in turn corresponds tothe steps shown in FIGS. 8A and 8B of the Example 5. The subsequentsteps shown in FIGS. 9C-9F exactly correspond to the steps shown inFIGS. 3C-3F of the Example 3.

EXAMPLE 7

Referring to FIGS. 10A-10F, this example is comparable with the Example4 and shown in FIGS. 7A-7F. The only difference is the order of thesteps shown in FIGS. 10C and 10D. Namely, in FIG. 10C, the barrier typeanodic oxide film 107 is formed before etching the insulating film 104.After the formation of the barrier type anodic oxide 107, the insulatingfilm 104 is patterned into the gate insulating film 104′. On the otherhand, in Example 4, the insulating film 104 is patterned before thebarrier anodic oxide is formed as shown in FIG. 7C. Accordingly, in theExample 7, the barrier type anodic oxide protects the aluminum gateelectrode 105 during the etching of the insulating film 104.

EXAMPLE 8

This example is entirely the same as the Example 5 of FIGS. 8A-8F exceptfor the order between the step of patterning the gate insulating filmand the step of forming the barrier type anodic oxide film 207. Namely,referring to FIGS. 11A-11B, the barrier type anodic oxide film 207 isformed before etching the part of the insulating film 204 as opposed tothe Example 5. Thereafter, the insulating film is patterned into thegate insulating film 204′. The subsequent steps shown in FIGS. 11C-11Fare entirely the same as those in the Example 5.

EXAMPLE 9

This example is also entirely the same as the Example 6 of FIGS. 9A-9Fexcept for the order between the step of patterning the gate insulatingfilm 304 and the step of forming the barrier type anodic oxide film 307.Namely, referring to FIGS. 12A-12B, the barrier type anodic oxide film307 is formed before etching the part of the insulating film 304.Thereafter, the insulating film is patterned into the gate insulatingfilm 304′. The subsequent steps shown in FIGS. 12C-12F are entirely thesame as those in the Example 6.

Referring to Examples 6 to 9, although it has not been shown in thedrawings, it is desirable to provide an anodic oxide film between thegate electrode and the mask when forming an anodic oxide film only onthe side surface of the gate electrode. This feature will be describedin more detail below with reference to FIGS. 13A-13D.

FIGS. 13A-13D show a fine wiring process using an anodizable material.On a substrate 701 which is for example, a silicon oxide film formed ona semiconductor, an aluminum film 702 is formed to a thickness of 2 μm,for example. Also, the aluminum may contain Sc (scandium) at 0.2 weight% to avoid an abnormal growth of the aluminum (hillock) during thesubsequent anodizing step or may contain other additives such as yttrium(Y) to avoid an abnormal growth of the aluminum during a hightemperature process.

Then, the aluminum film is anodic oxidized in an ethylene glycolsolution containing 3% tartaric acid by applying a voltage of 10-30 V tothe aluminum film. Thereby, a dense anodic oxide film 703 is formed onthe aluminum film to a thickness of 200 Å. Then, using a photoresistmask 704, the aluminum film 702 and the oxide film 703 are patterned inaccordance with a predetermined pattern. Since the oxide film is enoughthin so that it is easily etched at the same time.

In the case of the above patterning is carried out by isotropic etching,the edge of the patterned aluminum film has a shape as shown by numeral707 in FIG. 13B. Also, the difference in the etching rate between theoxide 703 and the aluminum 702 further enhances the configuration 17.

Then, a porous anodic oxide film 705 is formed by applying a voltage of10-30 V in an aqueous solution containing 10% oxalic acid. The oxidationmainly proceeds into the inside of the aluminum film.

It has been confirmed that the top end of the oxide growth, i.e. theboundary between the anodic oxide and the aluminum becomes approximatelyperpendicular to the substrate surface. On the other hand, in the caseof the barrier type anodic oxide, the shape of the barrier type anodicoxide is almost conformal to the shape of the starting metal.

In this example, the thickness of the aluminum film is 2 μm and theporous anodic oxide film 705 grows at 5000 Å. The top end of the growthis approximately vertical when observing it through an electronmicrophotography.

After the formation of the porous anodic oxide film, the resist mask 704is removed with a conventional releasing agent. Since the mask anodicoxide 703 is very thin, it may be peeled off at the same time with theresist mask 704, or it may be removed in a later step by using a bufferhydrofluoric acid.

Further, as shown in FIG. 13D, a barrier type anodic oxide film 706 of2000 Å thickness is further formed by performing another anodicoxidation in a different condition. That is, the electrolyte is anethylene glycol solution containing 3% tartaric acid and the appliedvoltage is about 150 V. This oxide film uniformly grows surrounding thealuminum film 702 from the boundary between the porous anodic oxide 705and the aluminum film 702 in an inside direction.

Accordingly, a structure is formed in which a barrier type anodic oxidefilm is formed surrounding the aluminum film and further a porous typeanodic oxide film is formed on the side of the aluminum film.

The porous anodic oxide 705 can be easily and selectively removed by aphosphoric acid, H₃PO₄ without damaging the aluminum.

Needless to say, the foregoing process can be employed to the anodicoxidation process of the foregoing Examples 4 to 9.

While a glass substrate is used in the foregoing examples, the TFT ofthe present invention may be formed on any insulating surface, forexample, an organic resin or an insulating surface formed on a singlecrystalline silicon. Also, it may be formed in a three dimensionalintegrated circuit device. In particular, the present invention isparticularly advantageous when used in an electro-optical device such asa monolithic type active matrix circuit which has a peripheral circuitformed on a same substrate.

Also, while crystalline silicon is used in the examples, the presentinvention is applicable to an amorphous silicon or other kinds ofsemiconductors.

While this invention has been described with reference to the preferredembodiments, it is to be understood that various modifications thereofwill be apparent to those skilled in the art and it is intended to coverall such modifications which fall within the scope of the appendedclaims.

1. A semiconductor device comprising: a substrate; a first insulatingfilm over the substrate; a semiconductor film including silicon over thefirst insulating film, the semiconductor film comprising: a pair ofmetal silicide regions; a pair of impurity regions between the pair ofmetal silicide regions; and a channel region between the pair ofimpurity regions; a gate electrode over the channel region with a gateinsulating film between the gate electrode and the channel region, thegate electrode partly overlapping each of the pair of impurity regions;and a second insulating film over the gate electrode, wherein portionsof the pair of metal silicide regions are formed in end portions of thesemiconductor film.
 2. The semiconductor device according to claim 1,wherein the portions of the pair of metal silicide regions are directlyin contact with both of the first insulating film and the secondinsulating film.
 3. The semiconductor device according to claim 1,wherein each of the pair of metal silicide regions is a silicide regionof a metal selected from the group consisting of titanium, nickel,molybdenum, tungsten, platinum and palladium.
 4. The semiconductordevice according to claim 1, wherein the substrate is a glass substrate.5. The semiconductor device according to claim 1, wherein thesemiconductor film is a single crystalline semiconductor film.
 6. Thesemiconductor device according to claim 1, wherein the semiconductorfilm is a polycrystalline semiconductor film.
 7. The semiconductordevice according to claim 1, wherein the semiconductor film is asemi-amorphous semiconductor film.
 8. The semiconductor device accordingto claim 1, wherein the first insulating film is a silicon oxide film.9. The semiconductor device according to claim 1, wherein the secondinsulating film is a silicon oxide film.
 10. The semiconductor deviceaccording to claim 1, wherein the gate electrode comprises a materialselected from the group consisting of aluminum, tantalum, titanium andsilicon.
 11. A semiconductor device comprising: a substrate; a firstinsulating film over the substrate; a semiconductor film includingsilicon over the first insulating film, the semiconductor filmcomprising: a pair of first impurity regions; a pair of second impurityregions between the pair of first impurity regions; and a channel regionbetween the pair of second impurity regions; a gate electrode over thechannel region with a gate insulating film between the gate electrodeand the channel region, the gate electrode partly overlapping each ofthe pair of second impurity regions; and a second insulating film overthe gate electrode, wherein parts of a top surface portion and a sidesurface portion of the pair of first impurity regions are metal silicideregions, and wherein an impurity concentration in the pair of firstimpurity regions is higher than an impurity concentration in the pair ofsecond impurity regions.
 12. The semiconductor device according to claim11, wherein the metal silicide regions are directly in contact with bothof the first insulating film and the second insulating film.
 13. Thesemiconductor device according to claim 11, wherein each of the metalsilicide regions is a silicide region of a metal selected from the groupconsisting of titanium, nickel, molybdenum, tungsten, platinum andpalladium.
 14. The semiconductor device according to claim 11, whereinthe substrate is a glass substrate.
 15. The semiconductor deviceaccording to claim 11, wherein the semiconductor film is a singlecrystalline semiconductor film.
 16. The semiconductor device accordingto claim 11, wherein the semiconductor film is a polycrystallinesemiconductor film.
 17. The semiconductor device according to claim 11,wherein the semiconductor film is a semi-amorphous semiconductor film.18. The semiconductor device according to claim 11, wherein the firstinsulating film is a silicon oxide film.
 19. The semiconductor deviceaccording to claim 11, wherein the second insulating film is a siliconoxide film.
 20. The semiconductor device according to claim 11, whereinthe gate electrode comprises a material selected from the groupconsisting of aluminum, tantalum, titanium and silicon.
 21. Asemiconductor device comprising: a substrate; a first insulating filmover the substrate; first and second transistors over the firstinsulating film, each of the first and second transistors comprising: apair of metal silicide regions; a pair of impurity regions between thepair of metal silicide regions; a channel region between the pair ofimpurity regions; and a gate electrode over the channel region with agate insulating film between the gate electrode and the channel region,the gate electrode partly overlapping each of the pair of impurityregions, and a second insulating film over the first and secondtransistors, wherein one of the pair of metal silicide regions of thefirst transistor is directly in contact with one of the pair of metalsilicide regions of the second transistor.
 22. The semiconductor deviceaccording to claim 21, wherein each of the pair of metal silicideregions is a silicide region of a metal selected from the groupconsisting of titanium, nickel, molybdenum, tungsten, platinum andpalladium.
 23. The semiconductor device according to claim 21, whereinthe substrate is a glass substrate.
 24. The semiconductor deviceaccording to claim 21, wherein the first insulating film is a siliconoxide film.
 25. The semiconductor device according to claim 21, whereinthe second insulating film is a silicon oxide film.
 26. Thesemiconductor device according to claim 21, wherein the gate electrodecomprises a material selected from the group consisting of aluminum,tantalum, titanium and silicon.
 27. The semiconductor device accordingto claim 21, wherein a conductive type of the first transistor isdifferent from a conductive type of the second transistor.